3rd Grade Teacher Killed In I-25 Rollover Sunday

An elementary school is grieving the loss of one of their teachers, who was killed in a single-car rollover early Sunday morning.

Colorado State Patrol says 26-year-old Katherine Banzhaf of Colorado Springs was killed in the crash. Driver Ashley Brooks, 27, also of Colorado Springs, was seriously injured. She is currently in the hospital.

Banzhaf, who went by Ms. Holliday at Soaring Eagles Elementary School, taught the third grade. The school, which is in District 2, tells 11 News that grief counselors are on hand to help the students deal with the loss, possibly the first major death in many of these 8 and 9-year-olds' lives.

Troopers say Brooks was headed south on I-25 just before 1:30 a.m. when she started veering off-road. In an attempt to correct herself, troopers say she started steering to the right and caused her Mazda 3 sedan to start spinning across the southbound lanes. The vehicle then went off the other side of the road, first ending up in a grassy median, then rolling onto the Baptist Road on-ramp. The vehicle continued rolling as it first went across the on-ramp, then fell off the side and rolled down into an embankment.

Both women were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

The crash remains under investigation, but troopers say alcohol may have been a contributing factor.

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